Threefold: Truth and Consequences
by Laura Picken
Summary: After the events in The Truth is Out There...And it Hurts, Andy remembers the things that the truth spell caused him to forget...which convinces him that Prue and her sisters had become art thieves. So Leo comes back into the Charmed Ones lives to convince Andy otherwise...
1. Chapter 1

Threefold: Truth And Consequences  
A Charmed Short Story  
By Laura Picken

Author's Note: I promised a shoutout if I ever found this thing, so here it is. After one last Google search, I found the archives of the one fan 'zine I was ever printed in: The Hot Corner ( . ). I had totally forgotten they published two stories of mine: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"...and this one. So thank you, Hot Corner, for keeping your archives online! There's some good work there, and not just mine. You guys should check it out.

This is absolutely, totally AU past, oh let's just call it the first half of season 1. Prue's not dead, Andy's not dead, The Elders have yet to rear their ugly little heads, and the only ones who know about each other are Leo (who knows about the Charmed Ones) and Phoebe (who knows Leo's a whitelighter). There's no Paige here at all.

DISCLAIMER: All the major characters in this story belong to Aaron Spelling, E. Duke Vincent and Warner Brothers. If I owned them, Andy would never have died, and this would have ended up a *very* different show.

Anyway, let the games begin!...LP

* * *

The sound of heavy footsteps resounded through the darkened halls of the Museum of Natural History. Joe looked up from his newspaper into the darkness behind the light on his desk, but when the pattern of the noise seemed to slow, Joe sighed with relief and returned his attention to the Chronicle's crossword puzzle. "Let's see," the guard asked to no one in particular, "What's a five letter word for death, starting with W..."

"How 'bout witch?"

Joe jumped at the sound of a female voice behind him, but the black-clad figure proved to be able to move much faster than he could. By the time the old security guard felt the noose around his neck, it had been tightened just enough to lift him high in the air, choking the last years of life completely from his body.

Another black-clad figure crept up behind the woman, looking up at the space where the dead security guard was suspended from a hangman's noose. "Nice work, Betsey," the red-haired woman complimented her partner. "Now c'mon. We have work to do."

The dark-haired woman turned to face her partner. Then, smiling, the two raced away from the area, leaving no evidence of their presence except for the scattered pages of the Chronicle that were now strewn across the floor beneath its owner's swinging body.

* * *

The library was usually his favorite place to rest after an assignment. While he loved interacting with, observing, and most of all helping those who needed him, sometimes it just felt good to step back and watch things from above-see "the big picture", as she would call it. Each volume in these peace-filled halls held the either the thrill of history or the tempting lure of prophecy, depending on one's frame of mind and frame of time. And there were definitely moments when it was easier to see time reflected in the printed page than to see it on the human face.

This, however, was not one of those moments. He raced the halls in a near-panicked state, desperate to reassure himself that the rumors weren't true. That the sympathy the others were trying to feel for him was misplaced.

That she wasn't going to die. Not yet.

Finally, he found it. The well-worn book that had become his treasure. The one he came back to over and over again to find comfort in its pages, joy in its words, and love in its characters. Love that flowed back to him even as he knew his soul was being poured into the women whose stories were told here.

_Let's see,_ he thought, _it's got to be in here somewhere...ah ha! Here it is!_ Quickly scanning through the pages, he came to the section he was looking for. Stunned, he slumped down to the floor-the look on his face quickly changing from anticipation to terror, then to sorrow, and finally to anger. A single thought raced through his mind-whoever this black coven was, they were not going to win. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Two watched him storm out of the library in a rage, leaving the pages of the book flying in his wake. Adrianna frowned in confusion. "Is that him? The one who fell in love?"

"Yes," replied Cassius. "I wonder what that was about..."

The rustling pages at her feet distracted Adrianna's attention. As she picked up the book, she then turned and asked her companion, "Let us find out, shall we?"

Cassius nodded his head in agreement.

Turning the pages, she soon found the last page that he had been reading. Her eyes shone with pity, as did those of her companion's.

After a few moments of quiet contemplation, Adrianna was the first to respond, sighing loudly. "I suppose we should tell the rest of the council about this..."

"I suppose so," Cassius agreed. "But..."

Adrianna turned to look up at her companion. "What is it?"

"Do you think we have to tell them right away?"

Adrianna remembered the look on his face as he left. The rest of the council could wait a lifetime, as far as she was concerned. Looking up Cassius' face, Adrianna's eyes sparkled with mischief as she smiled. "Care to share a long meal, old friend?"

* * *

Inspector Andy Trudeau pushed past the photographers and other assorted "members of the press" with a disgruntled snort. _How in the world,_ he thought, _do these vultures find out about these things faster than we do?

Focusing on getting to the crime scene, Andy pushed past the roaring cacophony of voices and flashbulbs until he reached the steps of the museum, where the noise level dropped as the press was forced to keep its distance behind barricades. Taking the steps two at a time, Andy soon reached his partner, who was waiting for him at the top of the stairs-and looking none too happy. "You're late. Again."

Andy barreled past his partner, the disdain clearly readable on his face. "I don't have time for this, Morris."

Morris' eyes widened in angry surprise. He quickened his pace to catch up to his partner. "Oh really?" he shouted, "Then what do you have time for, Trudeau? Is Prue Halliwell the only case you give two cents about anymore?"

Turning around, Andy stopped, waiting for his partner to catch up. The expressions on each man's face made it easy for other people to keep their distance. When Andy finally spoke, his voice was low and barely controlled. "What I do with my spare time is no concern of yours."

"It is when it affects my job, Andy," replied Morris. "And you ending up in jail on stalking charges will most definitely affect my job." Morris lowered his voice when he realized that half of the forensics team was staring at them. "Look, you're completely obsessed with her. Everyone can see it. Can I help it if I'm worried about you?"

The sincerity in Morris' eyes spoke volumes, and Andy relaxed. "I'm sorry," he replied, sighing deeply. "You know, part of me would be happy to just get her out of my life. And yet, ever since we broke up-"

"There have been far too many coincidences where she or one of her sisters was involved in one of our cases," Morris recited.

Andy nodded, ignoring the placating tone in his partner's voice. "Aren't you the least bit curious as to why those three always seem to be hanging around?"

"I don't know," replied Morris, now exasperated, "Maybe they've just become true crime junkies or something! Maybe Prue's still in love with you! It doesn't give you the right to document Prue's every move, you know."

Andy nodded his head in agreement even as he turned away from his partner. "Yeah, I know."

Morris sighed when he recognized the despondent look on his partner's face, and swore once again that if he ever got in a room alone with Prue Halliwell...well, let's just say he knew that he wouldn't be the gentlemen his partner would be. What had she done to work her way into his partner's life so quickly and so completely that he couldn't find his way back out again?

After a few painful moments of silence, Andy switched his focus back to the case at hand. "So what have we got?"

Switching gears in tandem with his partner, Morris brought out his notebook just as Andy looked up toward the ceiling. "The victim is Joe Patriani, age 72. He worked as the night watchman for the museum. The killer had the noose prepared in advance. They distracted our Mr. Patriani long enough to slip it around the man's neck, and let him fly."

"I'll say," replied Andy, whistling. The coroner hadn't yet figured out a way to get the victim down, so Andy was able to watch with morbid fascination while the late Mr. Patriani continued to swing from the rafters. "Has anything been taken from the museum?"

"Funny you should mention that." Morris led Andy down the dark corridor to an exhibit hall, where a second forensics team was taking pictures. The banners decorating the entryway to the exhibit read "Witchcraft and Paganism through the Ages".

The inside of the exhibit had been ransacked. "It's going to take them weeks to assess the full extent of the damage, but the curator estimates that up to a quarter of the collection was taken," explained Morris.

While Morris continued to run down the apparent path the robbers had taken in their onslaught of the exhibit, Andy scanned the area, looking for anything suspicious. A flash of white at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning, he crossed the room to discover what it was that had been so carefully placed in the midst of all the chaos.

Morris had to work quickly to keep up with his focused partner. "Andy? What is it?"

Finally stopping at one of the demolished exhibits, Andy quickly put on some evidence gloves and bent down to pick up the envelope. "Unmarked," he muttered, "But the back's open." Feeling the paper, Andy soon realized that there was at least one piece of paper in the envelope, plus something else.

Turning the envelope over, Andy opened the flap and carefully removed its contents. The 'something else' turned out to be a small metal tag showing what seemed to be three concentric circles with the non-interlocking pieces cut away. The paper, though, was what soon fascinated both men. Morris peered over his partner's shoulder and read the message aloud: "Long live the charmed ones...death to the three? What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"I wish I knew," replied Andy. "I really wish I knew."

* * *

"Prue! Phoebe! Breakfast is ready!"

While the oldest and youngest of the Halliwell sisters slowly made their way downstairs, Piper pulled out the box of cat food, planning to refill their pet's bowl. She frowned, though, when she saw both the food and water dishes not only full, but also virtually untouched.

Phoebe came up behind Piper and peered over her older sister's shoulder. "Kit's not eating her food?"

"No," replied Piper, confused. "And I haven't seen her since early yesterday. You don't think something's happened to her, do you?"

Phoebe shrugged, "I hope not. I'm sure she'll turn up, though." Walking through the kitchen to the coffee machine, Phoebe then asked her two sisters, "So what's the plan for today?"

"I don't know," mused Piper, "I don't have any plans. Maybe I should start looking for the cat..." The phone rang, interrupting her train of thought. Since she was closest to the phone, she picked it up. "Hello? Yes, this is Piper...you're kidding? All right, I'll be right there..."

Phoebe and Prue watched their sister with concern, and it wasn't long before that concern was rewarded. Unfortunately, it was with their coats. "The lunch hostess just called. Quake was broken into overnight."

Now sharing their sister's anxiety over what might have happened, Prue and Phoebe followed Piper out the door.

* * *

"Do you have to go?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"When the council finds out about this..."

"I'll take my chances if and when that happens." He sighed, "I can't let her die. Not when I might be able to stop it."

"I know, my friend. I know."

* * *

The three women couldn't believe what they saw when they arrived at the restaurant. The few members of the staff that had arrived were busy righting overturned tables and sweeping up dirt from the potted plants that had been ripped from their bases. The walls had been stripped of every piece of artwork that the restaurant owned; the few statues were either smashed or stolen, depending on their value.

"My God," whispered Piper, "Who would do something like this?"

Unable to answer her sister's question, Prue steadied the closest table, which seemed to be balancing precariously on one broken leg. When the shaking stopped, a shiny piece of metal caught her eye. Bending down to pick up the trinket, Prue nearly gasped at what she saw.

Phoebe was soon standing over her sister's shoulder. It didn't take long for her to recognize the piece of metal that Prue held in her hands. "That's Kit's tag, isn't it?"

"I think so," Prue nodded, "But I can't be 100% sure."

"What do you think it means?"

Closing her hand over the tag, Prue looked up and scanned the area, as if she was hoping for some other clue to connect the tag to the robbery. "I wish I knew, Phoebe. I really wish I knew."

"Can I see it?"

Shrugging, Prue handed the tag to her sister. She quickly grew concerned, though, when dropping the tag into Phoebe's hands caused Phoebe to jump-a sure sign that the younger witch was 'receiving' a vision. "Phoebe? What are you seeing?"

"Women," replied Phoebe, "Dressed all in black. They're standing around a bonfire, chanting something."

"What are they chanting?"

Phoebe shook her head. "I can't make it out. Lot of laughing, though. I can see inside the fire though, and there's...AAAAAAH!"

Immediately Prue was at Phoebe's side. Reaching out with a concerned hand, she asked, "What is it, Phoebe?"

In between gasps for air, Phoebe looked up at her sister-clearly terrified. "It was somebody's head. I couldn't make out who it was-it had been in the fire too long, but still..."

Prue pulled Phoebe into a comforting embrace, allowing Phoebe to finally break down and cry. Once Phoebe had composed herself, it was only then that Prue insisted, "Now c'mon. We gotta go tell Piper about this."

The two sisters got up and headed to the other side of the restaurant, unaware of the man who had just walked into the restaurant a few moments earlier-and had heard every word that passed between the two women.

* * *

Andy was completely blown away by the scene he had just witnessed. _Phoebe's psychic? I thought Prue was the only one...well at least that explains where they get their information..._

Looking around, Andy realized that the three women, knowing what he now knew, couldn't see him there. Turning around, the inspector nearly ran over a uniform that was walking into the building. Composing himself, Andy ordered the officer, "I've seen everything I need to see here. Take statements from the witnesses and get them to me when you get back to the station, all right?"

"Sure, Inspector," stammered out the bewildered younger man, "No problem."

Satisfied that 'police procedures' would now be fully met, Andy raced back to his car, praying all the way that the Halliwell sisters had not seen him there.

* * *

Three hours later, Quake seemed well on its way to recovery. Piper, however, was not. "I don't believe this," she groaned, holding her head in her hands. "Martin is going to kill me. We had to close for lunch, and we're barely prepared to handle happy hour and the dinner rush, which start in, oh, an hour. He's definitely going to kill me..."

Frustrated at seeing Piper in this level of hysterics, Prue grabbed her sister's hand and sat her back down. "Piper, it'll be fine," she soothed. "It's not like this robbery is your fault."

"It isn't?" Piper replied. "Try telling that to the police. How many of those tags do you think are floating around San Francisco? And three guesses as to who the inspector is that's assigned to investigate the robbery."

Prue didn't have to guess. "It's Andy, I know."

Piper looked over at her sister, bewildered. "How did you...?"

"I asked the officer too," Prue replied with a sigh. "So this means we have to assume that we're going to be considered his prime suspects."

"Why?" asked Phoebe.

Prue turned to her younger sister and explained, "Buckland. Since he never found Rex and Hannah, it's a good bet that Andy never quite ruled me out for that one. And you've seen what he's been like lately."

Phoebe nodded. The past few weeks, it seemed like Andy had been lurking around every corner. For once, Phoebe had been grateful to have the less 'visible' power-it meant that she didn't have to worry about controlling her actions the way Prue and Piper did.

Prue continued, "And once he sees the symbol on that tag, we have to assume that the first connection he's going to make will be to us."

"But you think someone's trying to set us up for the robberies," Phoebe concluded.

Prue nodded in agreement. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Phoebe then asked both her sisters, "So where do we go from here?"

"Well," replied Prue, "We should probably find out who sells these tags, see if you recognize any of the store owners as having been in your vision."

Piper agreed. "And then try to figure out which of them is setting us up and why."

As she ran her finger around the edge of her drink, Phoebe almost smiled. "Just another day at the office for the charmed ones..."

Small chuckles emerged from the three women at the table until the ring of Prue's cell phone cut them off. Prue answered it, "Yes?" The color quickly drained from her face, though, as she fully understood what the person on the other end of the line was telling her. "All right, Grace, I'll be right there."

"What is it?" asked Piper as Prue disconnected the call. The worried edge to Prue's voice made it impossible for Piper and Phoebe not to take notice.

"Buckland's inventory has been stolen," replied Prue.

Phoebe's eyes widened. "In broad daylight? You're sure?"

Prue nodded in reply then turned to her other sister. "Can you come with us?"

"Sorry," Piper shook her head. "I have to stay here and supervise the clean up. I'll catch up with you later?"

Prue and Phoebe both nodded, then each embraced their sister before they headed out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

The scene at Buckland was vastly different from the mess that Quake had been earlier that morning. Where Quake had been a scene of disorder, Buckland was a scene of complete order. Too much order-every piece that had been on the shelves was now gone.

Andy surveyed the empty shelves with reluctant respect. "Wow," he commented to his partner, "When these guys clean out a place they're definitely thorough. The question, though, is why? Why trash the exhibit and Quake then pick this place clean? Unless it's not the same guys..."

"I don't know about that," commented Morris, "But I do know we have one thing here we didn't have at the other crime scenes." At Andy's curious look, Morris revealed a videotape. "The security camera caught it all on tape. Want to watch?"

Andy's response was a sly smile. "You have to ask? Can we make out faces on this tape?"

"You have to ask? Let's go."

The closest VCR was in the warehouse foreman's office, so within moments the investigative team was able to watch the tape on closed circuit television. Morris was fast-forwarding through several minutes of tape as he explained, "According to the foreman, the first camera didn't pick up anything useful. The second one, though, shows the faces clearly." Coming to the point on the tape where the foreman told him that the faces could be seen, Morris slowed down the tape from fast-forward scan to play.

It didn't take long for three faces to be clearly visible, but the three faces on the tape were the last ones Andy would have ever hoped to see. "My God..." Andy's voice trailed off as he was rendered speechless by the sight of Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, apparently supervising the theft of Buckland's entire inventory, as Phoebe held their pet cat in her arms, stroking its fur.

Morris paused on a frame that showed all three faces clearly. He was just as surprised as his partner. So he was even more surprised when the expression on Andy's face changed from shock to emotionless resolve in a heartbeat. "Andy?"

"According to this tape, when did the robbery take place?"

"About two hours ago." Morris was growing increasingly concerned. Where Prue Halliwell was involved, Andy Trudeau's state of mind could hardly be considered all that stable.

Andy, for his part, found the information on the tape to be less enlightening and more frustrating. Three hours earlier, he had seen the sisters at Quake helping Piper recover from the first robbery, although no one else had seen him there. In a court of law, they would be able to come up with a pretty solid alibi.

So who was on that tape?

"Andy?"

The investigating team turned around to find Prue and Phoebe, two of the 'stars' of the tape, standing at the entrance to the door. Prue was the one who had been speaking. "I just heard about the robbery."

Morris wordlessly stepped aside to allow Andy to cross the room and face his ex-girlfriend. "Prue," asked Andy, "This is very important. Where were you two hours ago?"

"At Quake. I was helping Piper clean up-Andy what's going on?"

Ignoring the question for the moment, Andy gave a quick nod to his partner, who quietly replied, "I'll check it out," and excused himself from the room.

Andy kept himself from sighing with relief. While an alibi that solid would have meant that anyone else couldn't possibly have coordinated the robbery, Andy had seen far too much. Who knows maybe clones of Piper and Phoebe were running around San Francisco with the "Prue" that escaped from the morgue! "Prue, some evidence has surfaced that implicates you and your sisters in the robbery that occurred here last night." Andy studied Prue's face carefully, watching for any reaction that might be even closely related to surprise.

There wasn't one. Instead, Prue handed him a small metal tag and replied matter-of-factly, "We found this at Quake."

Andy flipped over the tag in his hand to reveal the same trefoil design they had found at the museum as well as on one of the cleaned out warehouse shelves. _So the burglary at Quake is definitely connected to the burglary at the museum,_ he thought. Stepping out of the office, Andy fingered the tag in his hand as he continued to ponder the problem. _But is this burglary definitely connected to those two?_

His answer came when the glint of another small piece of metal caught his eye. _I could have sworn the shelves had been picked clean. So what-_ Picking up the small object, he soon recognized it as a copy of the tag he held in his other hand. _So all three robberies are connected. Quake and Buckland I understand. But why the museum? Unless-_

He didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be possible. And yet the evidence was staring him right in the face as he turned around-and saw the pyramid-shaped paperweight sitting on the warehouse foreman's desk.

_Andy, I'm a witch._

Memories of another conversation came flooding back. Walking into the office, Andy put down the tags and picked up the paperweight, describing the memory out loud even as it came back to him in vivid detail. "You asked me how well I thought I knew you. I told you that I wished you trusted me enough to tell me your secret. You moved this paperweight across your desk..."

When he was finally able to look Prue in the eye, the pain in Andy's heart was obvious. "Why couldn't I remember this before now?"

When Prue refused to answer, Andy continued to let the memory play itself out. "You are witches, aren't you? All three of you?" Even though he expected Prue not to answer, it didn't matter to him-he already knew the answer was yes. With a bitter laugh, Andy pressed on. "You tried to tell me then that you were a 'good witch'. Tell me, Prue, had you already made your decision to stop being 'good' or did you wait until after...until after I couldn't remember any more? What, did you place some sort of spell over me so that you could be sure I would forget?"

Prue flinched like she had been physically struck. While the bitterness in Andy's tone showed clearly that he'd have a hard time believing she was anything but evil at this point, his words still came far too close to the truth. "Andy, we've been set up. Can't you see that?"

"All I see," replied Andy, "is a lying, manipulative witch who would do anything to keep the truth away from me. So if you refuse to tell the truth to me, maybe you'll tell it to someone else. Like a judge." Stepping back, he ordered the two nearby uniformed officers to handcuff Prue and Phoebe. "Prudence and Phoebe Halliwell, you are under arrest for breaking and entering, armed robbery and the murder of Joe Patriani. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney..."

Prue tuned out the rest of the rights speech, instead focusing on Andy's face, hoping to see some sort of sign that he would still fight for them, even when the evidence was as conclusive as Andy said it was. But the only emotion that Prue could see in Andy's eyes was pain-a pain that almost ripped her heart out of its chest with its intensity.

Somehow Prue realized that Andy was finished reading them their rights, and she nodded in agreement when he asked if she understood them. Silently, Prue turned and let herself be led away by the other officers, hoping that somehow Piper would find out who was setting them up and find some way to stop them before it was too late.

* * *

Piper tossed her keys on the table near the front door. "Prue! Phoebe! I'm home!" As she flipped through the mail, Piper thanked whatever gods watching over her for convincing Martin to close early instead of trying to continue the cleanup through the dinner rush. She knew she certainly could use the break...

"We're in the kitchen, Piper!" Phoebe called back.

"O.K.," called Piper. Dropping her 'essentials' at various places around the living room, Piper's mind was so distracted by everything on her mind that she barely noticed that the two women sitting at her kitchen table were not her sisters.

That is, until she looked up from the mail. Backing away slowly, Piper demanded, "O.K., would someone care to mention to me what is going on here?"

"It's very simple," replied one of the women, using a voice with an eerie resemblance to Prue's, "We want your powers."

Nervously, Piper started to back away from the two women. "Oh, so you want my powers? Here, you can have 'em!" Piper threw her hands up in the air, expecting to see the witches freeze long enough for her to get out of there and warn her sisters.

But they didn't freeze. Instead, they laughed. "Sorry Piper, that's not going to work on us."

"Darn," she replied, "And I've been practicing too." Hoping she could get a head start on the two seated witches, Piper turned tail and ran out of the kitchen...

...only to make very forceful contact with the fist of a third witch who was standing near the kitchen door. Shaking her hand out, Trish complained, "That girl has too hard a head."

"You're sure that knocking her out like that isn't going to have an effect on the transfer of her powers?" asked Betsey.

Trish nodded. "But we can only do it when we have the three of them together. So let's get her out of here and get ready for tonight." Without another word, the two women nodded in agreement and prepared to complete their plan.

* * *

"You did what?"

From the moment Andy realized that Prue and her sisters were witches, this was the point that he dreaded. Having to explain things to his partner. "Morris, you yourself saw them on the tape. The tags all belong to the cat, what more do we need?"

"Oh, maybe little things like evidence! Or motive! Or refuting the dozen or so witnesses at Quake who saw them there at the same time that Buckland was being robbed! Andy, do you realize how many lawsuits you just opened the department up to? Their lawyers could have a field day with this!"

Andy sighed, running a hand through his short hair. "You don't understand..."

"You're right, Andy, I don't. So why don't you explain it to me?"

Andy opened his mouth to respond, then closed it quickly when he realized that if he simply told Morris what he knew, the other man would be calling for the boys in white coats within ten minutes. _Much better to have proof at a time like this..._ Pulling out the now-infamous Prue Halliwell folder from his desk, Andy explained, "Do you remember that murder case a few weeks ago? The one where the victims were stabbed through the stomach with a sword?" Morris nodded as Andy continued, "Prue was one of those victims."

Morris felt like he had just had the wind knocked out of him. "Excuse me?"

Instead of continuing to explain, Andy simply handed Morris part of the file. "Here's the coroner's report. Read it for yourself."

Resisting the urge to call for the local paddywagon, Morris scanned the report that Andy had handed to him. Sure enough, the report stated that a Jane Doe brought in around the time of those murders was positively identified to be one Prue Halliwell. A later fingerprint test provided further confirmation. "How?"

"Beats me," Andy shrugged. "I gave the preliminary ID, then went to tell Piper and Phoebe. She was right there. Met me at the door not ten minutes after I had ID'd her body at the morgue. That's when I asked for fingerprints to be run. The body was Prue."

"So where is it now?"

"I wish I knew. After the case ended, I brought Prue in to confront her about the body, but it was gone."

Overwhelmed, Morris collapsed into a nearby chair. "And you're sure the coroner didn't make a mistake?"

"One hundred percent positive. The clothes were found in the drawer, laid out in the way that the dead Prue was wearing them. They're still in evidence lockup. Forensics traced them back to Prue about three days after the body disappeared."

"Wow," exclaimed Morris. "So either Prue Halliwell or someone who's a dead ringer for her-no pun intended-has learned the secret of coming back from the dead."

"Either that or Prue's able to be in two places at once."

Morris' eyes widened. "That's what you think happened today, isn't it?"

Andy nodded. "She's a witch, Morris. A real, very powerful witch."

"A witch?" Morris was beginning to change his viewpoint. Maybe Andy had gone off the deep end after all..."Where did that idea come from?"

"She told me, Morris, and then brainwashed me into forgetting we ever had the conversation. I only remembered it an hour ago. Morris, I've seen her move things with her mind. I heard Phoebe talk about a vision she had. And," he waved his hand across the files strewn over his desk to punctuate the point, "Too much evidence is piling up to dismiss it anymore. My one question now is, do you believe me?"

Morris sighed. Much as he hated to admit it..."Yeah, I believe you. But none of this is going to hold up in court, Trudeau, and you know it. How are you going to prove they did it?"

"They didn't."

Both men turned around to find that a third man had entered their conversation. Andy tried to sound as cordial as possible. "Leo? What can we do for you?"

Leo shifted his weight, nervously looking around as if he was looking for something to pop out of the sky any minute. "Is there some place more private where we can talk?"

The two inspectors shared a moment of unspoken communication. Finally Andy answered, "Sure. Let's use one of the interrogation rooms."

When both men started to get up from their chairs, though, Leo stopped them. "No offense meant to your partner, Andy, but I'd prefer to talk to you alone."

Andy glanced back at Morris, who simply shrugged, "Hey man, the Twilight Zone is your department! Just call me when you need me."

"Thanks." Andy smiled briefly, then turning to Leo he instructed, "Let's go."

* * *

As the door closed, sealing off the interrogation room from the rest of the station, Andy couldn't help but notice the unnatural silence in the room. Leo sat down in the chair while Andy closed the door. "They didn't do these things you're accusing them of, and you know it," Leo insisted.

"Oh really?" asked Andy. Coming around to sit in the chair across from Leo, Andy took an evidence bag containing one of the tags and pushed it across the table. "Do you know what that is?"

Leo's eyes widened as he looked at the tag. "It's a Wiccan symbol of protection..." Looking up, Leo hoped that Andy could see the desperation he was feeling. "Please, we have to get them out of here. Their lives are in danger."

Of the many responses Andy thought Leo could come up with to the question of 'what's in the bag', that wasn't one of them. Still, though, the inspector was skeptical. "What are you talking about?"

"If you're finding this at the crime scenes, it's a challenge to Prue and her sisters. Get protection, because they're going to need it."

"And how do I know that this isn't something they planted to taunt me?" Andy had to resist the urge to laugh.

Leo, for his part, fought back the urge to sigh. Apparently, he needed to take a different approach. "You know what they are, right?"

"That they're witches?" Andy tried to laugh, but it came across as a bitter snort of disgust. "Yeah, I know. All the more reason to believe they did this."

"You don't believe that there are good witches, do you?" Leo challenged.

Andy's response was firm. "No."

"Then if Prue and her sisters are as powerful as you believe them to be, what makes you think you're going to be able to keep them in jail?"

Andy started to respond, but stopped before an answer escaped his lips. Leo was right. If Prue were telekinetic, wouldn't it be entirely possible that she could use that power to pick the lock on the jail cell? Who knew what she was capable of? Jumping out of his chair, Andy ran out of the interrogation room and down the two flights of stairs to the holding cells.


	3. Chapter 3

Throwing the door open, the first thing Andy noticed was the smell of blood. Coming closer, he gasped when he saw the baliff sitting at his desk. The man's throat had been slit from ear to ear. Andy didn't want to take a pulse, but did it anyway-and cursed when he felt nothing beating beneath he skin.

It was then Andy noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that the cell was empty. Prue and Phoebe were gone.

"Oh dear..."

Andy turned around to see Leo standing in the doorway. But the sight of the corpse didn't sicken him, as Andy would have expected. Leo's concern, instead, seemed to be for the missing witches. "What are you doing? How did you get down here?"

"No one saw me, if that's what you're concerned about," Leo replied, trying to force down the lump in his throat. He was having a very bad feeling about this whole thing. Crossing the short distance to the holding cell, Leo ran his hands across the bars, as if he was trying to will them to give up what had happened to the three sisters. "How long has it been since they were taken down here?"

"About two hours, why?"

Leo cursed his misfortune. "Then they could be anywhere by now..." Grabbing the bars with both hands, he raised his eyes to the heavens and cursed himself again. He was too late. "She's got them. They've got them..." Turning to Andy, Leo raised his voice and commanded, "C'mon. We have to find them before it's too late."

"Excuse me?" Andy was flabbergasted. Who did this guy think he is, ordering him around in his own precinct? "In case you didn't notice, they did leave a dead body in their haste to escape..."

It was only at that point that Leo noticed the body. The last thing he needed was another murder for Andy to try and accuse the girls of committing. Bending down near the desk, Leo ran his hands over the throat wound.

Andy watched with amazement as a white light seemed to glow underneath Leo's hand. Coming closer, he realized that the light was healing the baliff's wound. Within seconds, the wound was closed, and the baliff jumped out of his seat, reacting instinctively to the last violent memory of his life. The man soon relaxed when he saw that the remembered assailants weren't there, but jumped again when noticed Leo standing beside him, along with a stunned Andy Trudeau. "Inspector? What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Oh? Nothing, baliff. Everything's just fine." Andy shook off his disorientation quickly, turning to Leo and improvising, "C'mon, Agent Wyatt, we have work to do."

As Andy quickly ushered Leo out of the room, Leo asked him quietly, "Do you believe in good witches now, Inspector?"

Andy didn't quite have an answer for that.

Leo jumped as the door to the interrogation room slammed shut behind them. His last concern, though, was for himself. "We're wasting time, Andy..."

"We have time to get some things straight," Andy snapped in response. "First, did you just do what I think you just did?"

Leo nodded.

"So you're a witch too?"

"Not exactly," replied Leo. "I'm a Whitelighter. Sort of a guardian angel for good witches."

_An angel? This day is getting stranger all the time._ "So you're here for Prue and her sisters?"

Leo nodded.

"So they're considered good witches?"

"The most powerful of good witches. They're known as either the charmed ones or the Three, depending on which legend you're looking at."

Andy's face paled. Going into his pocket, he produced the bagged note from the museum. "This was found at the scene of the first robbery."

Leo took the note from Andy and scanned the contents. Resisting the urge to crumple the note into a ball and torch it, the angel instead handed it back to Andy. "Now you see why we have to hurry. This note is from the coven that's gone after them. They're out to kill the girls and take their powers."

_A coven?_ Andy slumped down in the nearest chair, fighting to keep from being overwhelmed. _It makes sense...in a strange sort of way..._Immediately his resolve strengthened. "What do we do to find this coven?"

"Find the leader we'll find the group," Leo replied. Handing the tag in his pocket back to Andy, the angel then suggested, "You know, they had to have gotten these tags from somewhere..."

* * *

An hour later, Andy and Leo were out on the street, checking their few solid leads. Andy sighed as he rang the doorbell to the last small storefront on their list. "Two down-third time's got to be the charm," he commented, trying to calm the nerves of his restless 'partner'.

It didn't work. Leo seemed to grow increasingly worried with each passing minute. And the fact that it was nearing sunset only seemed to make the Whitelighter more tense. "We've got to find them soon," he warned.

"Well," Andy commented, "Hopefully something will happen this time..."

Their conversation ceased abruptly when a dark-haired young woman answered the door. "Yes?"

Leo's attack was faster than anything Andy had ever seen. In the blink of an eye the shopkeeper was against the wall, facing a very angry angel. "Where...are...they..." Leo demanded, his voice lowered to a menacing growl.

Andy was shocked. He had never seen anyone this upset, let alone someone who claimed to be a 'guardian angel'. "Leo, let her go."

And yet the dark-haired woman, for her part, seemed unimpressed. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the avenging angel himself! How ya doin', Leo?"

The sarcasm only encouraged Leo to move his arm closer to the woman's windpipe, ignoring Andy's protest. "I don't have time for your games, Betsey. Tell me where they are, now, before I break every bone in your body and feed you in pieces to their cat."

"Gee, a little testy tonight?" When Leo tightened his hold on Betsey's neck a little further in response to the comment, Betsey caved in. "All right, all right! They're at the airport—south field."

As Leo stormed out of the storm with Andy trailing behind him, he could hear the warlock laughing in the background, "You know you'll never make it!"

Leo tuned out the words, but Andy could not. Catching up to Leo, he asked, "What does she mean, we won't make it?"

"The transfer ceremony begins with the last rays of sunset," Leo replied cryptically. "If we don't get to them by then, they'll die."

Alarmed, Andy looked up at the sky. The airport was over an hour away, and sunset had already begun. "She's right, we'll never make it."

"We'll make it," Leo simply stated.

Andy turned to him, amazed. "We'll make it? How?"

"Whitelighter Express."

And before Andy had a chance to reply, Leo grabbed his hand and the two men disappeared.

The first thing that Andy noticed was that he was standing at the southern end of the airport's runway fields. The next thing he noticed was that Leo had just let go of his wrist. "How'd you do that?"

"No time to explain," Leo replied. "They're about to start the ceremony. C'mon."

Leo turned around, running toward a large grouping of rocks near the edge of the field. As Andy followed, he could just make out in the distance a group of women, dressed in black and standing in a circle. They were chanting something, but he couldn't make out what the exact words of the chant were. Trying to ignore the group for the moment, Andy instead unholstered his weapon, checked the clip and removed the safety.

A hand on Andy's arm stopped him. "You won't need that."

Andy was confused. "And why not?"

"A gun won't intimidate these people. Your main job will be to get Prue and the others outside of the circle."

"You mean we're just going to walk in there and get them out?" Andy protested. That didn't seem to make any sense.

"No, we're not just going to walk in there and get them out," Leo repeated, rolling his eyes. _Humans..._ "Just follow my lead, O.K.?"

Andy started to question the logic in that plan, but then stopped himself. He was in a situation where he was trying to rescue his ex-girlfriend and her sisters, whom he just found out were witches, from a group of evil witches with an 'angel' as his partner. Logic had gone out the window a long time ago. "O.K."

Leo resisted the urge to sigh with relief. "Good. Let's go."

* * *

"This chanting is starting to get on my nerves," muttered Prue.

"Yeah, me too," added Phoebe, her voice barely able to get above a hoarse whisper. "Prue, isn't there some way you could get these ropes off at least one of us?"

"I'll give it another shot," Prue replied weakly. "Phoebe, roll onto your other side so I can see the ropes behind you."

Slowly, Phoebe found a way to switch positions without attracting the attention of their captors. Whatever this spell was, it had been slowly draining them of their strength for the past hour. For Phoebe, she felt like she had gone five rounds with the Slam Man-and lost.

Prue, for her part, was trying to focus her mind enough to untie her sister's ropes. It wasn't working-she was just too tired. Finally, gasping for breath, she gave up. "I'm sorry, Phoebe. I can't."

"That's O.K.," Phoebe tried to reassure her sister, "You did your best."

"At least Piper doesn't have to go through this," Prue commented.

Phoebe turned her head to look over at her unconscious sister. The fact that Piper hadn't awakened was worrying her. "You think she's O.K.?"

"I hope so," sighed Prue, "But if we don't get out of here soon, it won't matter much, will it?"

"Nope." Looking down at the pile of wood that they had been thrown upon, Phoebe felt that familiar knot in her stomach grow even bigger. This looked a little too much like her vision. "So do you have any ideas as to how we can get out of here?"

"Not unless you know a spell that will telepathically call someone to come rescue us."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

As the sister's conversation lapsed into a moment of silence, they continued to hear the chanting going on in the background:

Goddess of darkness, hear our prayer  
Bring us the powers of these witches fair  
Release their bodies to your will  
And let us be the charmed ones still

From Prue's vantage point, she could see two new witches approach the circle. But while the faces of the others were plainly visible, these new witches had their faces hidden by dark cowls. Prue watched with interest as one of the new witches came up behind a member of the group while the other moved to a spot where she couldn't see them-apparently the opposite edge of the circle. She wondered idly what this group might be coming up with for them next, when the new "member" of the group knocked one of the other members of the group unconscious.

This sent the group into chaos. Some of the witches were so deeply involved in the spell that the sound of a body hitting the floor didn't cause them to miss a word. Most stopped chanting, though, wondering what outside danger had entered their circle. And the majority of those who stopped chanting soon took off in a dead run for their cars.

A few stayed, though. One of them was the red-haired "leader" of the group, whose attention wasn't on the witch who had fallen or the one who had done the hitting, but on the other cowl-hooded witch who had broken through the circle. "Good of you to join us, Whitelighter! My, my-imagine if the council could see you now..."

_Whitelighter?_ The word filtered through the Phoebe's exhausted mind, and struck her as a ray of hope. _Leo?_

"It's over, Trish," Leo insisted. "Let them go."

_Leo!_ Phoebe couldn't help but smile. Apparently, their prayers to whatever gods that watch over witches had been answered...

"Over?" gasped Trish. "You don't understand, my dear boy. Once the spell has begun it's unstoppable." With a wistful sound in her voice, the witch continued, "So when the last ray of sunlight hits that pile of wood...their world is going to go up in flames. Care to watch? Maybe take home a piece of your girlfriend as a souvenir?"

"Not if I can help it." A bolt of white light shot out from Leo's hand, aimed straight at the warlock.

Trish, however, was prepared, and dodged the 'bullet' just before it would have hit her square in the chest. Recovering quickly, she fired off a shot of her own, going after Leo with a bolt of blue energy.

The other hooded "witch" seemed to take the distraction of the fight as an opportunity to approach the altar the three girls were stuck on. Prue was about to cry out to get Leo's help when she felt a pair of hands start to loosen the ropes binding her wrists. A pair of very familiar hands. "Andy?" she whispered.

"Sh-h," Andy whispered. "Can you walk?"

Prue nodded. "I think so, but I doubt Phoebe can by this point. And Piper's unconscious."

Andy glanced up at the sky, quickly checking the position of the sun. "We don't have much time. Can you make it to the outside of the circle?"

Prue nodded as she felt her hands free from the ropes that were holding them. Pushing her with a hand on her back, Andy ordered in a harsh whisper. "Go! Hurry!"

Using what little strength she had left, Prue stumbled and fought, finally pushing her way out of the circle before collapsing in a heap. Andy followed, carrying Phoebe over his shoulder past the entranced witches and outside of the circle. Setting her down gently next to Prue, Andy declared, "I'm going back for Piper."

"Hurry!" Prue called back, checking the position of the sun. The end of the sunset was coming far too quickly, and from what little Prue could see, it didn't seem like Leo could hold off Trish for much longer.

_She's good,_ Leo decided as he dodged another blue bolt of lightning. _Does Andy have all the girls out yet?_ Risking a glance over at his partner, Leo saw that Andy was cradling the unconscious Piper in his arms atop the wood pile, while Prue and Piper were safely outside the circle.

Switching his attention back to Trish, Leo couldn't help but notice that Trish's attention was no longer focused on him. Instead, she was staring up at the sky in expectation. _One chance, that's all I need..._

FLASH!

Leo shot Trish with the strongest bolt of energy he could possibly create, hitting her squarely in the back of the neck. As the dark witch collapsed, Leo looked up to see the last ray of sunlight hit the pile of wood in the center of the circle, Piper thrown free of the woodpile...

And Andy Trudeau collapsed on top of it, his world going down in flames.

Leo knew he had to act quickly. Breaking through the group of entranced warlocks, he floated Andy up out of the flames and away from the circle. The Whitelighter felt the power of another underneath his own, and he looked over to see Prue sitting up, using what little strength she had to help him get Andy to safety.

Within moments Andy was outside the circle, a safe distance away from the fire that had almost claimed him. The warlocks within the circle, though, were starting to realize that the spell had been broken. Panicked by the though of having committed kidnapping and murder with no reward, the witches started to run...

FLASH!

Leo had to resist the urge to laugh at the sight of the members of the "Black Coven", frozen in the process of running in all directions, their capes flying behind them. Quickly, though, he returned to the reason why he froze time in the first place-healing Andy so that the inspector could bring these people to justice.

By this point Prue had regained enough of her strength to make her way over to the area where Leo was working on Andy. She watched in amazement as the glowing white light under Leo's hand healed the burns on Andy's arms and face. Glancing around, she couldn't help but notice the group of frozen witches. Turning her attention back to Leo, she asked him, "Your work, I take it?"

Leo nodded.

"Are you a warlock?"

Even as he continued to work, Leo shook his head. "I'm what's called a Whitelighter. I guess you could say I'm your guardian angel."

"See," called out a voice behind them, "I told you so."

"Phoebe!" Prue wheeled around to see her youngest sister sitting up and fully conscious. "How are you feeling?"

"Ugh...like I went ten rounds with Chuck Norris and lost," Phoebe groaned. "How's Andy?"

"Almost...done..." Leo replied. "There!"

A deep-voiced groan interrupted the conversation as Andy slowly regained consciousness. Prue held his hand and brushed some of the soot off of his face. "Hey, Andy."

"Prue," Andy began, "Thank God. I was having the worst nightmare..." As Andy's vision started to clear, he realized exactly where he was...and who he was with. "It wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Prue shook her head, and Andy groaned again. Then his last memory returned, and Andy started to panic. "Piper! Is she O.K.?"

Leo had been so concerned about healing Andy's injuries he barely noticed that Piper had not regained consciousness. However, that fact was now the first thing on his mind. In an instant, he was at her side, using his hands to scan her for injuries.

Once Prue and Andy were able to help each other up, they made their way over to where the Whitelighter was watching over Phoebe and especially Piper. "How is she, Leo?" Prue asked.

As the light under Leo's hands dimmed and finally died, Leo sighed with relief. "Ask her yourself."

As if on cue, Piper's eyes opened. When she saw the sight they were opening up to, her face lit up in a bright smile. "Leo!"

Leo's face lit up as he returned Piper's smile. "Hi beautiful!"

"What are you doing here? The last thing I remember was...oh, God," Piper groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "This isn't home, is it?"

Leo tried to stifle a chuckle. "No, it isn't." Helping Piper to sit up, he continued, "C'mon. I'll explain everything..."

Recognizing a cue when he heard one, Andy also helped Prue to get to her feet. "We should give these two some privacy. After all, we have some things we need to work out ourselves."

Before the other couple left, Leo asked Andy, "While you two are talking, could you do me a favor, Andy?"

Andy had to blink twice at the idea of an angel asking him for a favor. "Sure. What?"

Smiling, Leo pointed to the still-frozen warlocks and replied, "Call for backup."

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the warlocks, still frozen in their spots after a period of several minutes, not just twenty seconds. Andy asked, "How long will they stay like that?"

"Until I unfreeze them," replied Leo.

Immediately Phoebe and Prue asked at the same time, "Can you teach Piper how to do that?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Thanks, Morris. See you in a few." Andy was still smiling as he closed the connection on his cell phone. "He'll be here in about twenty minutes. Oh, and he says he's very glad I'm no longer going to have to worry about visiting you in jail."

"So am I," agreed Prue.

After a few moments of silence, both Prue and Andy attempted to speak at the same time.

"Prue-"

"Andy-"

"You go first."

They shared a small chuckle, then Andy conceded, "Ladies first."

"O.K.," Prue sighed. Taking in a deep breath to help her swallow her pride, she then let it out slowly and continued, "Andy, I want to apologize. You've been right all along-I should have trusted you, and I'm sorry."

Andy slowly caressed Prue's cheek with his hand. "Prue..." he breathed. Andy winced as he remembered the last thing he said to her before the "forget spell" took effect-that he couldn't handle the fact that she was a witch. _God, how could I have been so stupid?_ "I'm sorry, too. I wish I could take back the things I said to you, but I can't. Back then, I probably couldn't have handled knowing that you were a witch."

That familiar knot began to tighten in the pit of Prue's stomach. "And now?"

"Now..." Andy brushed back a stray lock of hair from Prue's face as he sighed, "Now I'd rather 'deal' with you in my life-powers and all-than have to learn how to 'deal' with my life without you in it. My question is, can you forgive me for the way I've been acting the past few weeks?"

Prue nodded without hesitation. "You were worried about me, and what I was getting involved in-you didn't understand that I was just trying to do my job."

It seemed as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of Andy's shoulders, so it wasn't hard for him lifted Prue off the ground in a tight embrace. "I love you so much, Prue."

Tears of relief in her eyes, Prue rested her chin on his shoulder as she told him, "I love you, too."

Surprised, Andy set Prue down so that he could look into her eyes. "You know, I think that's the first time you ever said that to me..."

Piper smiled as she and Leo watched Prue and Andy embrace. They had been watching the conversation intently, too far away to hear but close enough to intervene should a fight break out. "It's about time they started working things out," she sighed happily.

"Yeah," Leo agreed. Quickly, though, the Whitelighter's smile disappeared from his face.

_Tell her everything,_ Andy had said to him. _You can't have a real relationship with her until you both are totally honest with each other. Believe me, I know..._

Piper noticed how preoccupied Leo seemed. "Leo-?"

Leo turned his attention back to Piper, and a brief smile flashed across his face before his expression turned serious again. "We have some things we need to work out too, you know."

"We do?"

Phoebe took this moment to interrupt the conversation. "Oh, you definitely do..."

Leo sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. While he understood the fact that Phoebe was stuck with them, in an open field with really no place else to go and no way to get there, he had still held out hopes for a private conversation. "Phoebe?" he asked.

"Yeah, Leo?"

"Sleep," he commanded.

Instantly Phoebe passed out. Piper watched her sister's collapse with concern. "Ohmigod, is she O.K.?"

Leo's hand on Piper's shoulder kept her from moving as he replied, "She'll be fine, Piper."

Piper was confused for a moment, then her eyes widened as she realized the implications of exactly what Leo had said to her. "Did you do this?"

As Leo nodded, she noticed the frozen coven members in the distance. "That too?"

When Leo nodded again, Piper tried to scoot away from him. The fear was evident on her face, and it broke Leo's heart just to see it. "What are you? A demon, a warlock, what?"

"Piper, I'm not a demon, and I'm not a warlock," Leo replied calmly. "I'm a Whitelighter. We're kind of like guardian angels for witches."

"An angel?" Leo nodded. "That's why you're here?"

"Well, that's why we met, yes. My job was to protect you and your sisters until you knew how to control your powers."

Piper couldn't help but notice what Leo wasn't saying. "But that's not why you're here."

"No." Leo shook his head, then sighing, turned away from Piper. "I'm here because I'm in love with you."

Piper's eyes widened even as she smiled. "You're in love with me?" she gasped.

Leo nodded. "Whitelighters have the ability to see into the future, and I had heard from some of the others that this," he waved his hand in the air, "was coming."

"That's right. And you were expressly told not to interfere."

Piper and Leo turned around to see a short, dark-haired woman crossing the field to meet them. Her glowing white suit was a stark contrast to the encroaching night. Leo stood up to confront her, and Piper accepted his help in getting up as well. Then, noticing the other sleeping Halliwell at his feet, Leo gently nudged Phoebe's shoulder as he muttered under his breath, "Phoebe, get up. We've got company."

Immediately, Phoebe awakened, and started to stretch. When she noticed how tense everyone was, she stood up immediately. "What's going on?"

"Good evening, ladies, Leo," the dark-haired woman greeted. "Good to see you all well."

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Leo muttered.

While the dark-haired woman glared at him, Leo refused to back down. "Adrianna, you've known me long enough to know that there was no way that I could stand back and watch them get killed. Not when it was in my power to change it."

"Leo, you didn't even seek permission from the council-"

"Would you have granted it?"

Adrianna glared at her young charge. "Remember your place, Whitelighter. You have no way of knowing whether or not I would have granted permission, now do you?"

As Prue and Andy rejoined the group, Piper asked, "Wait a minute, why was he told not to interfere?"

Adrianna averted her eyes from the gaze of the three charmed ones. She hated dealing with witches, although some had discovered their existence from time to time. And the prophesied "charmed ones" had been a thorn in her side ever since the council assigned Leo to watch over them.

Finally regaining her composure, Adrianna told the three sisters, "Since the three of you received your powers, you have been too quick to use them for personal gain, often at the expense of others. Finally the council decided the three of you needed to live with the consequences of your actions-whatever they might be."

Andy snaked an arm around Prue's waist, and she held onto it gratefully as she realized exactly what Adrianna was implying. "The truth spell?"

Adrianna nodded. "That truth spell is not to be taken lightly. It is intended to be used when someone is consistently deceiving you, and you require the truth from that person. But instead you were the deceiver, and you used that spell out of fear. Which meant that the consequences were far more painful for another than they were for you."

Prue nodded her understanding, fighting back tears. Andy only held on to her tighter.

Satisfied that the charmed ones now understood what they almost lost, Adrianna turned her attention to her wayward charge. "So now I have the unenviable task of deciding what to do with you."

Leo continued to stand defiant in front of his supervisor. Circumstances having been the same, he knew he would have done everything exactly as he did. In a heartbeat. "Yes ma'am."

Adrianna noticed Leo's attitude and had to fight back the urge to laugh. Instead, she paced in front of the small group, "considering" her options. "Let's see...I could banish you to the oceans for a century? Nah, you'd probably just find a mermaid and get her to wash herself up on shore...Confine you to the heavens? Well, we saw how well that worked..."

Finally, the elder stopped, and it seemed as if you could almost see the lightbulb go off above her head. "I've got it!" Turning to face Leo and Piper, Adrianna spoke with a commanding presence as she delivered her judgement. "Leo Wyatt, you are hereby confined to Earth for a period not exceeding one hundred years. While you will continue to possess all the abilities of a Whitelighter, you will have no access to the heavenly realms. After the one hundred-year sentence is served, your status as a Whitelighter will be taken under revue, and at that point your access might be reinstated." Mischief sparkled in the elder's eyes as she continued, "So if I were you, kid, I wouldn't blow it down here."

Leo didn't know whether he was being punished or rewarded. While he knew that just about any other Whitelighter would consider banishment from heaven the most severe of punishments, for him, it meant he could stay in San Francisco. With Piper. Heck, it almost sounded like Adrianna had given them her blessing! "You mean I can stay?"

Adrianna nodded. "Yep. Someone needs to keep an eye on these three, and you're certainly motivated enough to do it."

The smile that broke out on Leo's face could have lit up Fisherman's Wharf. "Yes ma'am!" Quickly, though, he realized that this would only be a good thing if one other person agree to it. After all, she had broken up with him...turning to Piper, Leo asked, "So what do you think? Would you have a problem with seeing me around a little more often?"

"Are you kidding?" Piper quickly jumped up, wrapped her arms around Leo's neck and kissed him passionately.

When she finally released him from the kiss, Leo was a little dumbstruck. "So I take it that's a yes?"

"I should hope so," Phoebe exclaimed, "'cause I really wouldn't want to be you right now if that was a no!"

Smiling, Leo released himself from Piper's embrace long enough to shake his supervisor's hand. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Adrianna replied. "Just be careful, all right? The last fight between a witch and a Whitelighter caused an earthquake." Then, looking at her watch, Adrianna exclaimed, "Oh my, look at the time! I need to get going. Leo, you better unfreeze them now."

Bewildered, it took Leo a moment's thought before he realized that Adrianna was talking about the dark coven. "The police are on their way?"

At Adrianna's nod, Leo quickly unfroze the group...who ran directly into the path of the oncoming squad cars.

Leo turned away from the spectacle, wanting to thank Adrianna again, but she had already disappeared into the night. Still smiling, the Whitelighter caught up to his friends, who were headed toward the onclave of squad cars.

As Piper felt Leo's arm coming around her shoulders, she looked up at him and smiled. "Hi."

Leo, for his part, smiled back in return. "Hi yourself."

Andy, for his part, groaned. "I think I'm going to be sick..."

"Hey..." Prue protested, elbowing him in the ribs, "I think its romantic."

"Yeah," Phoebe sighed, "Me too."

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Andy asked Leo, "So what does this punishment mean for you, Leo? Besides getting to date Piper?"

"Well," Leo replied, "The first thing I need to do is find a place to live."

"Wait a minute," asked Piper, "What about that phone number we always used to call you?"

Leo's response was a finger pointed in the air. "Direct line up there."

"Oh," said Piper. "Wow..."

Andy thought about Leo's situation for a moment. A late 20s-ish looking young man with no place to live, supernatural powers, no identity, and this man had just saved his girlfriend's life? "Don't worry, Leo. We'll take care of everything..."

* * *

Epilogue

(Three weeks later)

"This is great!" exclaimed Phoebe. "I think this is the first time since I moved back home that we've actually been able to go on a triple date."

"I'm reserving judgment on tonight until I meet this new boyfriend of yours," commented Prue. "You're sure he's not a warlock?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes even as she swiped Prue's favorite earrings from her jewelry box. "I'm sure. I met him in my kickboxing class. We've been talking for a solid week now. He's told me all about his life, and it's been too specifically rotten for him to be a demon. They always seem to be too good to be true..."

Piper eyed her younger sister skeptically. "Just be careful, all right?" she warned.

"I promise," Phoebe swore. Drawing a cross over her heart, she continued, "Cross my heart."

Just then the doorbell rang. Seeing that her two sisters were still getting ready, Phoebe continued, "I'll just go downstairs and get the door, seeing as you two always like to make an entrance..."

Narrowly dodging the shoes that Prue and Piper tried to throw at her, Phoebe flew down the stairs and opened the door. Andy and Leo were standing in the doorway, a single rose in each man's hands. "Hi guys!" greeted Phoebe. "C'mon in. They're still getting ready."

"Thanks," replied Leo as the two men walked into the entryway.

Phoebe then turned to Andy and asked, "So how's the roommate thing going?"

"Well," replied the Inspector, "This guy may be an angel, but we've got to talk Piper into giving him some cooking lessons..."

"Hey!" Leo interjected in mock protest. "You said you liked that last thing I cooked..."

"I did-I just wish I could've identified it..."

All banter between the two men ceased as their girlfriends walked into the room. Andy was the first to present his girlfriend with the rose in his hand as he scooped her up in his arms for a passionate kiss. "You look beautiful, Prue," he commented as they finally came up for air.

"You don't look so bad yourself, handsome," she grinned in response.

Piper and Leo, for their part, were completely engrossed in their own welcome. "Hi Angel!" said Piper. "Glad to see me?"

"Always," Leo replied, giving her the rose and a gentle welcome kiss at the same time.

Phoebe sighed, glad to see her sisters so happy. Then, she checked her watch for a third time. _When is he going to get here?_

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "That's him!" Phoebe exclaimed happily. Jumping up from her spot on the couch, she quickly ran for the door.

Leo and Andy glanced at each other in a moment of unspoken communication, then each looked to their loves for an explanation.

Prue was the first one to supply it. "New boyfriend," she commented.

"Oh," said Andy. Again another moment silent communication passed between the two men. Each of them knew Phoebe's tendency for bringing home demons or evil warlocks, and both men swore to do their best to make sure that was not going to happen again.

The group heard the door close, so they all came forward to greet the new arrival. Phoebe came in first, followed by a red-haired young man wearing a leather jacket and carrying a motorcycle helmet. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Richie Ryan."

Richie shook hands with each member of the group as Phoebe introduced him to them. "Richie, this is my sister Prue and her boyfriend, Andy Trudeau."

"Nice to meet you both," he greeted them.

"Nice to meet you," replied Prue.

"Likewise," replied Andy.

Ignoring the cautious look on Andy's face, Phoebe continued, "And this is my other sister Piper, and her boyfriend Leo Wyatt."

Richie shook Piper's hand warmly. However, a strange look seemed to pass across both Leo's and Richie's faces when their hands touched. "Nice to meet you," Richie said, but his heart didn't seem to be in the greeting.

"Likewise," Leo replied. His heart didn't seem to be in it either.

After a few moments of tense silence, Phoebe suggested to the group, "Well, perhaps we should get going?"

The other two sisters were more than willing to agree. "Sounds good to me," replied Prue. "Let's go."

As Richie ushered Phoebe out the door, Andy held Leo back from going to Piper's side. "All right, Leo, what's going on?"

At Leo's cautious look of response, Andy continued, "Is this one of those things I'm better off not knowing about?" Leo nodded, then left to catch up with Piper.

If there was one thing that Andy had become certain of over the past three weeks, it was that if Leo thought he was better off not knowing something, it was something best blown off...for the moment. So, trying to ignore the growing uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Andy jogged quickly to catch up to his own girlfriend, who was waiting for him at the door.

* * *

[Oh, the surprise disclaimer: In case you're not familiar with Highlander: The Series, I don't own Richie Ryan. He belongs (sadly) to Rysher Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended...LP]

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading this far. It's been nice to see at least a few hits on this story. The lack of comments, though, is depressing. :( So I'll throw a question out there for you guys to comment on: I do have a sequel for this story. It was about 3/4th of the way done when this story was first published back in the day. I *could* finish it,out part of me really doesn't want to put in the time if no one's interested. So if you *want* to see the sequel to this, let me know in the comments below!**


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